The Legend of Zelda: Messenger of Light and Shadow
by Raitsu Kamataki
Summary: Original. Link leaves his village for a customary journey and returns to find them all kidnapped by an evil sorceress. Now he must go on a long journey to bring them home and save the world.
1. Chapter I11: The Festivities of Aturea

Welcome to Messenger of Light and Shadow - My Zelda fanfic.

A few very important notes to start.

- This is a complete original fanfic (kinda contradictory?). It's like a new Zelda installment. Except not nearly as good. And in story form. It focuses more on the story aspects, than the gamey, second person things. Although I do love the occasional? dungeons.

- Everyone except for Link, Zelda, Ganondorf, and the Smash Bros. Characters (the second major part is a Smash Bros. crossover. Sort of.) are OCs.

-I have a bad tendancy to write long chapters. All the original chapters have been chopped up to 3000 - 5000 words apiece for appeal. That's why there are so many chapters.

-I killed the non- OCs personalities, and I know it. But it's a fanfic, so what the heck.

-Not much in the way of pairings here, save a few OCxOC couples. At least not in the beginning. It focuses more on advanture than relationships (because I'm a complete nerd.)

-Stupid Notepad killed a lot of my editing. There may be quotation marks missing in places, or paragraphs cut off in the wrong place... I'm not using a .txt file again.

It's probably not what you're looking for when you think of fanfiction, but I hope you'll give my work a try.

~Chapter 1~

Part 1

Length: ~7000 words

Setting:  
ATUREA VILLAGE  
TUESDAY, JUNE 13, 253 TWILIGHT ERA  
4:23 AM

To the far northeast of Hyrule Castle, near the barren hills surrounding Death Mountain lay a small village by the name of Aturea. Aturea was a village of warriors, well hidden by a circle of high and steep cliffs. The way to to get into the village was a small tunnel through the wall of cliffs. The entrance to the tunnel lay on the Bridge Path.

The land was altogether not very fertile, and the ground was covered in a short, light green grass, the streets marked by by stripes of dirt. Occasional trees grew near the houses of some of the residents, but these trees were mostly from other parts of the kingdom. They never grew to great heights, but were nontheless healthy. Some crops could be grown in Aturea, but the villagers usually went out to Castle Town to trade for other food from Ordon, the forest, and Demirsi.

Today was a very important day for the residents of Aturea Village. Especially for one of the village boys, Link, who was about to turn sixteen that day. Sixteen was the age that the villagers considered one to be an adult, and true warrior. And Link was the most promising of them all.

On this day, Link was awoken by the two younger village boys, Mike and Maurene, who had been anticipating this day all week.

"Hey Link, wake up!" Maurene shouted to him standing at his bedside.

As a reply, Link picked up a nearby pillow, and swung it, attempting to hit Maurene. Instead, since the boy was too short, he ended up smacking Mike instead.

"Go away, it's not even dawn."

"But come on! Now that we've woken you, you can at least get ready for today. It's not like you're going back to sleep," Mike pointed out.

A good point, which wasn't so good. Link hardly ever got any sleep; he could stay awake for days on end. As a result, he valued whatever sleep he got. So, the one day of the year that master Lumuro ever let him go to bed early and sleep in late, had to be the day the two overeager village boys got him up before the sun. Oh well, such was life.

He opened his eyes and sat up. Mike and Maurene had moved over to the foot of his bed in the event that they were threatened by the pillow again. They were grinning, and when they noticed that Link was up, they gave excited yells and high fived each other. They had likely been plotting this for quite some time, but Link was much too nice to say anything about it.

"Come, we already made you breakfast. Hurry up and eat," Mike said. 'Then afterwards, we can spar!"

So that was their real goal. Mike and Maurene totally idolized Link, and Mike was constantly pestering him to spar with him. However, because of the four-year age difference, and Link's natural talent, Link always won these, which usually made Mike even more enthusiastic. After each loss, not only did Mike think that Link was cooler, but is hardened his resolve to train hard and someday beat him. Maurene thought that Link was awesome, but he also looked up to his own master, Jaryd, Link's older brother by adoption.

"What's all this racket?" demanded Jaryd, walking sleepily into Link's room. He was a slightly irritable person, who, Link felt, liked everyone in the village except him. Jaryd didn't like to show it, and tried his best to treat his brother well ,but there always seemed to be an underlying resentment in the way Jaryd talked to and looked at him.

"We got him up!" chanted Maurene happily, running over and poking his master. Seeing Maurene, Jaryd instantly cheered up.

"Good job, Maurene!" he encouraged, and the boy grinned and ran out of the room. Jaryd followed.

"Come on, come on, come on!" Mike urged. "We got Cecyllia up too. She's waiting in the kitchen now, so hurry up!"

Cecyllia was Jaryd's mother, and who had originally adopted Link when his parents died in the epidemic fifteen years before. Link was only one at the time.

The village of Aturea was founded over a hundred years ago when there was a controversy in Castle Town. A group of people began to train their children in the ways of combat, so that they could protect Hyrule from the forces of evil like the heroes of legend. (As the soldiers of Hyrule were well known for cowardice.)

Another group rose that decided, for unknown reasons, that they didn't like this. The began to persecute thsoe who were training their youth. The justification was that magic, evil, and heroes, did not, do not, and will never exist, and that they were wasting their time when they should be contributing to the town. However, the population of warriors was so small, that it would hardly make an impact on the life of the town, so there were obviously other motives.

Eventually, the warrior group grew tired of how they were being treated, and so they left Castle Town. They travelled to the north, and intending to go to Kakariko Village (the East Gate was being heavily guarded), they began to head east across the plain of Lanayru and through the Bridge Path.

About halfway to Kakariko, not long after they crossed the border into Eldin province, they found a small opening in the cliff wall. Curious, they entered it, followed a short tunnel, and discovered and ancient abandoned village.

They decided to settle there, and they renamed the village "Aturea." They rebuilt the abandoned houses, started crops, planted grass, and continued on with what they 'd been doing.

Only about fifteen years ago, an illness had swept through Aturea, killing much of the people. Among the dead were Link's parents. Now, the once prosperous village was reduced to five children and nine adults; fourteenpeople.

It was a tradition that all boys (and girls, but they had a choice. Most didn't care to) get an adult (sixteen years or older) to have them be his or her master and train him or her. Usually, boys started no younger than four, and no older than six.

Another important rule was that every boy had to have a master, but no man could have more than one apprentice.

Of the adults in the village, four were men.

First was Mikoto, Maurene's grandfather, and the previous chief. He was old, btu still looked strong and healthy. He was wise, and very well respected. He had been the current chief's, Lumuro's, master.

Lumuro was Link's master. Lumuro was the strongest warrior in the village, making him the chief. He lived with his wife, Tammera, often known as Tamm, and his eight year old daughter, Laura.

Then there was Shinrin, Mike's master. Shinrin was the second best in the village, only to Lumuro, but it was widely believed that Link had passed him up. Only today would they find out. Shinirin was married to a woman named Yuka, but had no children.

The last man was Jaryd. He was two years Link's elder, and neither had a girlfriend nor was worried about it. He was fourth in strength, a fact that greatly bugged him, competitive as he was. He insisted that it came as a result of being the youngest and most inexperienced. Jaryd had especially looked forward to this day, as he belived that Link would end up below him. After all, the times that Link beat him, he was going easy.

The other three adults were Maurene's mother, Takita, Cecyllia, and Martica, Mike and his twin sister, Iyumi's mother.

Link rolled out of bed, and followed Mike down the staris and to the table where his and Cecyllia's prepared breakfast lay. Jaryd and Maurene were nowhere in sight. Maybe they had gone to practice.

"Morning, Link," greeting Cecyllia, slowly eating her breakfast. "Big day, huh?"

"Yeah," was all Link replied, then he sat down and quickly ate. After he finished, he went outside, and Mike followed him.

"Can we spar now?" asked Mike.

"Wait a bit. I want to ask Shinrin a few questions first," Link replied.

Mike groaned impatiently.

It was very cool outside. There was a slight breeze. The sky was a navy blue, and the stars could still be seen, but there was a slight glow to the east.

Link, followed by Mike, walked out into the main street. There were only three streets in main Aturea; the main street, the silver side street which separated Link's house from Maurene's, and the gold side street which separated the Dojo house property from the chief's. There was a watch tower slightly south of Lumuro's house, on the far west side, opposite the village entrance. This was were Shinrin was.

Link's house was the closest to the gate. It was the furthest southeast. The property boundaries were the main road to the north and the silver road to the west. Across the main road lived Shinrin and Yuka. Across the Silver Road was a group of three houses. Martica, Mike, and Iyumi's house was the closest to the main road. In back of them, connected by a narrow second floor pathway lived Takita and Maurene, and one the other side of them was Mikoto's house where he lived alone.

The two boys walked along the street lined with the two story wooden houses and arrived at the watchtower.

Link climbed the tower, leaving behind Mike and Maurene on the ground below. He took Shinrin completely by surprise upon reaching the top.

"Link!" he exclaimed, turning around. "What are you doing up so early?"

"He," Link said, pointing down to Mike, "woke me up. Mike wanted to spar with me before the celebrations began. Maurene assisted him."

Shinrin chuckled slightly. "Ah well. You know Mike. You have no idea how much Mike wants to beat you if only once."

"Actually, if this incident counts for anything, I probably do," Link said. "Anyway, I wanted to ask you about that cloud that's been hovering over the castle for the past few weeks. Anything new?"

Shinrin became more serious. "Come see for yourself," he sighed.

Link walked over to the side of the platform, and looked west. It was a bit difficult to see the contrast between the dark ominous cloud and the early morning sky, especially facing west, but it was definately there. And darker.

"Though from our angle I can't tell for sure, I think that the cloud has been spreading southwest over the past few days. It certainly isn't going away. I'm seriously beginning to wonder whether this is the doing of evil," Shinrin explained.

Link and Mike sparred several times between then and dawn, the results being the usual; Link totally whipping Mike.

It was about this time that the rest of the village began to wake up. Everybody was very excited as an event like this hadn't occured for two years. The last was Jaryd's coming of age. It had indeed been exciting, but for some reason, everybody expected Link's to be better.

Link had gone over the general schedule with Lumuro. At dawn, he would have his final lesson which would last a couple of hours. The village would prepare a party during that time. Then, Link wouold have to fight each of the men in the village, beginning with the lowest ranking, and then going until he lost or could go no longer. If he beat the strongest, the chief, then he would become chief.

There would be feasting and presents, and when all of this was finished, he'd depart on a week-long journey to Kakariko Village. It was just a simple trip to travel and meet outside people, for the residents of Aturea traditionally never left the village except on missions, and the children didn't leave at all. Link was looking forward to the adventure, even if it be a short one.

In Hyrule, dawn usually came around six o' clock AM, and dusk around six PM, no matter the season. It was now about eleven in the morning; five hours after dawn. In that time, the remainder of the village had eaten breakfast. Lumuro's last lesson lasted from seven to nine. Link had been given some time to cool down, and then started the battles.

It was now time for the highly anticipated showdown between him and Lumuro.

First was Jaryd. Jaryd was somewhat easy, but had more strength than speed. Dodging his attacks where relatively easy, but when Jaryd hit, it was painful. When Link won, Jaryd tried and failed to smile, saying that he must have gone easy, for after all, there was no way his younger brother could have beaten him.

Link had almost effortlessly beaten Mikoto. It was probably only because his skills had faded with his age. Mikoto had certainly put up much more of a challenge than Mike ever had. However, Mike still had very much to learn.

Shinrin was far more challenging than Mikoto. It took a very long time, but eventually, Link emerged victorious.  
Now, it was time to fight the top man of the village and his master, amd they were going all out, as had never happened before. Only once, in the entire history of the village, had a sixteen year old ever beat the chief.

However, most of the village believed that Link had a lot of natural talent in combat, unlike many of the past residents. Almost everybody thought that Link would be the next chief, and soon.

The two drew their swords. When Martica gave the command, Link ran up to Lumuro. He did a vertical swing, but Lumuro blocked it, and threw him back.

And so the battle went on. Swinging, blocking, dodging, missing etc. It continued somewhat repetitively for over an hour, but the villagers couldn't miss a second of it. Especially Mike.

At last, the wining strike was delivered when Lumuro swung at an opening in Link's defenses. As an act of desperation, Link unleashed a a spin attack at the last second, parrying Lumuro's sword, and as a stroke of luck, Link's blade ended up against Lumuro's neck. All in one swing. There was a short silence, where everybody stood frozen.

Then, Lumuro said, surprised, but pleased, "Well done, Link, it seems you have bested me at last."  
The entire village cheered. Link and Lumuro sheathed their swords, and joined in on the happiness. It was a little after midday, so the village would be having a feast before Link left for Kakariko.

The feast didn't take long to set up, as Martica, Yuka, Tammera, Takita, and Iyumi had been preparing it while Link was having his last lesson with Lumuro. They dragged a giant table into the dojo, which was already decorated, and Martica and Iyumi set out all of the food.

Link sat on the end nearest the door. Normally, his master would sit on his right, but as his master was also the chief (or the previous one) he instead sat on the opposite end. Mike sat on Link's left, and Maurene on his right. On Mike's left sat his sister, Iyumi. On Iyumi's left was their mother, Martica, Jaryd, then Takita, and finally Mikoto. On Maurene's right sat Laura, followed by Tamm, Cecyllia, Yuka, and then Shinrin.

"Whoa, Link, that ending move was so cool!" declared Mike, attempting to begin a conversation. He grabbed his bowl and began dumping ramen into it.**

"I agree," stated Lumuro, much to everyone's surprise. "Where ever did you learn a move like that? I sure didn't teach you."

"It was from one of your old books," explained Link. "When you aren't looking, I often look through the books in your library on old battle tactics and sword moves. I had originally decided to master this particular one, as I found that it's very useful for cutting grass."

Everybody stared at him.

"Why would you care about cutting grass?" Laura asked.

Martica was the one to answer. "You never know what you might find in tall grass. Many people drop loose change. I told Link that long ago, and I'm pleased that he remembered."

When Martica was a child, she enjoyed spending her free time searching for things many other people couldn't find. She knew many hiding places in the village as well as secret rupee staches, and she was most likely crawling through the grass for whatever reason when she found some money on the ground. She often shared her knowledge with the village children, especially with Mike and Iyumi.

"Ah, I had always wondered where you had gotten all that money from. Now I know," Shinrin said.

"Not that it matters much around here anymore. We don't have much in the way of stores, and we rarely leave town," old man Mikoto pointed out.

"But hey! They're pretty looking!" Iyumi said. Everybody laughed.


	2. Chapter I12: The Festivities of Aturea

~Chapter 1~

Part 2

All in all, it was a great feast. Of course, Iyumi and Martice had supervised its making so it was bound from the start to be good.

Now was the final part before Link departed; presents. Everybody looked forward to presents, even if they weren't the ones receiving them. It was fun to see what everybody else had worked so hard to find or make, for nowadays, all presents had to be obtained that way. Naturally, the presents given to a villager on his or her sixteenth birthday were often much more beautiful and amazing than on any other occasion.

Usually, each family presented one gift to the receiver, but sometimes, the children try to make another, especially if they have a good relationship with the person. As a result, Link almost always got more presents on his birthdays than anyone else.

This particular event was to take place in Link's house. Lumuro and Shinrin had succeeded in convincing him to sit up at the top of the stairs, and have everybody climb to give him what they brought. Link didn't really care to do so, but he figured that he might as well let Lumuro and Shinrin have their way, as they wouldn't be seeing him for a week. This actually seemed to be a large amount of time for the villagers, as nobody had left in thirteen years, except on occasional two-day missions.

Mike had pushed his way to the front of the line, and Iyumi had grudgingly followed. Mike and Iyumi disagreed on many things, but were still very close, and always worked together on gifts, especially for Link.

Mike rushed up the stairs, and Iyumi followed slowly and steadily behind him carrying the present behind her back.

"Hurry up, Iyumi!" Mike shouted when he got to the top.

"I'll get there when I do," replied Iyumi calmly.

Mike groaned impatiently. Iyumi began to intentionally walk slower.

When at last she got there, she pulled out what she had brought from behind her back.

It was a fishing rod. The handle was of dark wood and very well made. It had three green stripes towards the middle. The end was decorated with shiny green gems that suspiciously resembled rupees.

"Do ya like it?" asked Mike excitedly.

Link did like it; it was very well made and pretty, but he had no idea what he would do with it.

"I like it, however..." he began.

"Oh, there's something wrong, isn't there?" Mike interrupted. "I tried to tell Iyumi that there wasn't much in the way of fishing ponds in Eldin, but she wouldn't listen."

"Yes, and I told Mike that fishing rods can be used by much more than just fishing," Iyumi added shewdly.

"I suggested a whip," stated Martica from the bottom of the stairs.

"Now, don't go giving him ideas," joked Shinrin. Everybody laughed, for they all knew that Link was much too nice to actually attack someone. Though there was no denying that it would make a great whip.

"Thanks, Mike. And Iyumi," Link said, as he put the rod to his left.

Mike skipped back down the stairs, and his sister followed him at her usual pace.

Next up was Martica. She walked up in the same manner as Iyumi; sedate and slow. Upon arriving at the top, she pulled out a large bag from her belt that was full of something. She dropped it in front of Link.

"Open it," she ordered in a friendly voice.

Link did so, looked inside, and couldn't believe his eyes.

"What is it?" asked Laura, tip toeing to see over those in front of her.

Link reached into the bag and pulled out a handful of yellow and blue rupees. This handful had barely made a dent in the large pile inside the bag. The villagers looked to the bag, and then to Martica in amazement. Martica looked pleased with herself.

"Where on earth did you get all that money?" gasped Lumuro.

"There's this old store in the abandoned district, and the shopkeeper died in the epidemic fifteen years ago. Nobody knew of her secret rupee stash hidden in the back of the store. What I gave Link is barely a fraction of what she had," Martica said smugly.

The abandoned district was an area in Aturea through a tunnel in the cliff wall surrounding the village. It used to be lively, and in old times, the majority of the town lived there, but when the plague hit, most died, and so that area was abandoned, and everybody remaining had moved to the main part.

Nowadays, nobody dared go into the abandoned district, for it was beleived to be haunted. It just had a feeling of death and spirits and evil surrounding it that none of the villagers desired to experience. Martica was the only one fearless enough, and who had the time to actually go there.

"Thanks a lot!" said Link enthusiastically.

"If you're going on a journey, you'll need money. And I'm sure this is much more than you saved up from cutting grass," Martica said.

That was true. There wasn't altogether much money in Aturea. Link had saved up about fifty rupees over ten years of cutting grass. It was considered a lot for an Aturean, but the bag contained hundreds.

Link put the rupees back in the bag and set it by his fishing rod. Martica descended the stairs, and it was Shinrin and Yuka that came up next.

"We give you this shield," Shinrin said, as his wife held it up for Link to see. It was fairly big. The outer edge was silver, but the decoration inside the border had a blue background and many other yellow and red designs depicting the Hyrule royal crest.

"This is a Hylian shield," Yuka said. "It is very strong and doesn't burn. It was very hard to find one, but we did!"

"And we decided to give it to you," Shinrin finished.

Link took the shield in his right hand and examined it. He hadn't really used one before, as during training he had been taught to block attacks with his sword. However, it certainly wouldn't hurt to have a shield. He set it over in his pile.

He thanked Shinrin and Yuka, and they bowed and walked back downstairs. Jaryd and Cecyllia came up next.

Cecyllia pulled out a handmade blanket, and Jaryd handed him bottle full of a red substance.

"This blanket may be useful for if you decide to camp outside," said Cecyllia. "Besides which, I made it, so you can always think of home when you use it."  
Link took the blanket. It was green with reddish-purple and white designs; the colors of Aturea.

"This is red potion," explained Jaryd. Link couldn't tell if he was happy or upset. Somewhere in between. "I got it on one of my journeys to Death Mountain. It restores life at any moment, even when you are about to die. Well, if you ARE dead, it obviously doesn't work, though, so if you are dying, remember to drink it."

"Thanks for the thought, Jaryd," Link said, as he set aside the two new items.

Next in line were Mikoto and Takita. They presented to Link a full map of Hyrule.

"Don't worry, we unearthed it in my house. Tingle didn't draw it as far as we know," Mikoto had assured him.

Tingle was this really strange guy who dressed in all green, and floated around Hyrule by means of a red balloon with two objectives in mind:  
1) to draw the best maps ever, and  
2)to search for fairies.

His maps were amazing, but he charged outrageous prices, and frankly, that combined with his obsession with fairies, choice of clothes and transportation, as well as his name scared off just about any potential customers. Some hated guts. Some just wanted to put as much distance between themselves and Tingle. However, the Atureans enjoyed finding projectiles wherever possible and sniping Tingle's balloon. As a result, it did a great job of keeping him away from Aturea.

"Though we warn you, Link. This map is a bit old, as we had to blow dust off it. It may not be completely up to date and accurate, but who knows? The world hasn't changed considerably for the past two hundred years," said Takita.

"I had planned to just go to Kakariko and back. I probably need only a map of this province," replied Link, looking it over.

"Not necessarily. The point of the journey is to meet outside people and explore the world outside of the village. You can go anywhere you want. Heck, you can go all the way to Snowpeak or Ordon if it makes you happy. The only rule is that you return in a week," Mikoto explained.

Link hadn't known that before. Travelling more would certainly be great, but he didn't know how much he could get done in only a week.

"Do you like it," asked Takita.

"It's good," Link answered. "Thanks for telling me about being able to go other places. I wouldn't have known otherwise."

Shinrin could be heard at the bottom muttering, "Well, they sure didn't tell me anything! Not until I got back, that is. I had spent the majority of the week lounging around when I could have been travelling."

It was now Laura's turn. She pulled a black notebook out of her pack, and handed it to Link.

"What is it?" he asked, holding up in front of his face, staring at it.

"A quest log! Shinrin, Jaryd, and Dad and old man Mikoto have them too. Write in it at least once a day during your travels, about what you've seen and done on your adventures. Then when you return, let us read it, or read it out loud," Laura explained. "Dad reads me his all the time. It's really interesting. I can't wait to find out what you do, especially if you do leave Kakariko."

Laura smiled.

"Thanks very much, Laura," thanked Link, patting Laura on the head, and putting the notebook in his growing present stash.

Next up were Laura's parents, Lumuro and Tammera.

They had a sword for Link.

"We have been spending the past few months forging it, specially for you," Lumuro said. "It is brand new, and as you know, my wife is a renowned metal smith. A while ago, I had her leave on journeys to search for rare and powerful metals to use in this sword."

It was indeed beautiful. The hilt was decorated with gold and blue abstract picture, mostly swirls. The blade was a bright silver. Link stood up and stepped back a couple of feet. He did some practice swings. It was amazingly light, and Link wondered if it was weak. Not so. He swung it in an arc at the guard rail of the balcony, effortlessly cutting a huge chunk off the top. It was solid, hard wood; Link's previous sword had been unable to do it.

"What do you think," Tamm asked.

"This.. is amazing," Link answered. "I love it." Despite Link's quiet and polite personality, he had a high appreciation for good weapons.

Lumuro looked very pleased by Link's reaction, and Tamm was even more so.

The final present was from Maurene.

He showed to Link a slingshot. Considering that Maurene was only six years old, it was very well made.

Maurene's only comment had been, "Shoot down Tingle for me, 'k?"

The present ceremony concluded several hours before dusk, but the Atureans kept finding Link jobs to do to prevent him from leaving until the last possible minute. When he thought he finally had a break, Laura and Maurene jumped him and forced him to play hide and seek with them. He was debating over whether to play or to gently decline, when Jaryd came and loomed over him, informing him that he, of course, was going to. So, he ended up agreeing.

This round, Link had chosen to hide in a crate under the second floor pathway. It was a good place to hide from Jaryd, as he had a tendency to look up rather than down. However, this turned out to be a mistake on Link's part for a completely different reason. Shinrin had just so happened to be moving the crates in that alley when he uncovered Link.

"What are you hiding from?" Shinrin asked.

"Jaryd."

"Why? Are you playing a game?"

Link nodded.

"Ah, okay. I was going to ask you a favor..."

"What is it, Shinrin?"

"Well, I don't know... After all, I'd hate to interrupt your game, and it's your sixteenth birthday and all..."

Link looked down. He could tell that Shinrin was trying to convince him indirectly. All the villagers knew that Link couldn't turn down an opportunity to help someone.

"That's fine. What do you need done?"

"Just some help feeding the cuccos. You see, I'm currently tied up a bit moving all these supplies to the caverns. It won't take long at all, and if you are all playing hide and seek, I doubt I'll find any of the others. The sooner I get this done, the better. Those cuccos are getting irritable."

Was Shinrin out of his freaking mind? Put Link in a cage with a flock of hungry cuccos? Why not get one of the other adults to do his dirty work?

"Sure, I'll do it," Link muttered, standing up and climbing out of the box.

"That's great, come on," replied Shinrin, almost relieved. Was this another plot to keep Link from departing? Or was this just subtle revenge for Link beating him? Shinrin could be a real jerk sometimes....

Shinrin lead him out of the alley and across the main road. They headed for Shinrin's backyard.

Against the cliff wall was a high chainlink pen, full of the chicken-like animals called cuccos. Shinrin and Yuka owned nine.

As Shinrin went to the west side to unlock the cage for Link, the cuccos gathered at the southeast end where he was standing. All nine stared at him, unblinking, with distinct bloodlust.  
Link slowly took off his new sword and lay it on the ground. He had discovered at an early age that attempting slice up attacking cuccos only made them angrier. These were very invincible and agile chickens.

The cuccos of Aturea had a vendetta against Link. They were already known for being ill-disposed, and when Link was ten, he took his first rotation for feeding them. Shinrin had warned him that he might be pecked at a little, but when he actually entered the cage, the birds took an instant dislike to him and swarmed.

In an act of defense, he had whipped out his practice sword and tried to swat them away. This had only made matters worse. The chickens were impossibly fast, and easily dodged the blade. He had successfully landed a hit on a few, only for the sword to bounce back like rubber. The cuccos attempted to tear him to shreds with their beaks and feet, and luckily, Shinrin intervened by putting himself between Link and the animals. They would not attack Shinrin, who they recognized as their primary caregiver. He pulled Link out of the pen and gave him to Jaryd and Iyumi, who, after having a good laugh, started aiding him.

In fact, Cecyllia and Yuka were the only ones who didn't find it at all amusing. Cecyllia was worried sick over whether Link was alright, and Yuka felt guilty because it her pets had done it. However, the rest of the village, especially the children dismissed it. "This is Link we're talking about," they said. "He won't be killed by a flock of insane chickens." Link had a reputation for healing quickly, and for getting less severe injuries.

He laughed if off later, as well, but he secretly swore to avoid such a task if ever it were to come up again. He had, for the most part, succeeded; this was only the third time in six years that anybody had even requested he do it. One of those times, Lumuro had conveniently walked along, and told him it was time for practice. No such fortune would hit this time, though. He was no longer an apprentice. The village wanted him to stay for as long as possible, and they had no intention of interfering.

"The food is over here, Link!" called Shinrin from his back door. "I left it unlocked. Tell me when you're done." Then he closed the door.

Link walked over to the big cubical container of the cucco feed, and scooped a couple of cup fulls into a smaller bag, and dragged the bag into the cage. The cuccos did not attack immediately. They just watched him, until he dumped all the contents of the sack into their bowls.

"Aha! Link! I found you!" shouted a voice. It was Jaryd, he was running towards the pen pointing towards Link.

"No, be qui----!" Link began, then, the cuccos, as if set off by Jaryd's sudden yell, jumped up in unison. Squawking, they flew in a straight line for Link. He ran for it, throwing his new sheild over his head, and the bag over his shoulder. He heard a few taps on the shield before throwing open the door and diving out, kicking it shut behind him. He put the bag back in its place by the back wall, and walking out, heard Jaryd clapping.

"Now THAT was epic! Anyway, you're it. I found you first. That was a really stupid hiding spot if I do say so myself. With the cuccos' hatred of you and all...."  
Link did not answer. Instead, he began walking around to Shinrin's front door.

"Don't worry," Jaryd laughed. "Let me guess, Shinrin found you first and asked you to do it, right? To be honest, I think he puts those animals on drugs. Like, puts something in their food. On my travels, all the cuccos I've met are dumb, without any personality. But Shinrin's are........."

Link opened Shinrin's front door, and went inside. Shinrin came down the stairs.

"I am going to have to agree with Jaryd. That WAS epic. I'll just go and lock them up, and you can return to your game."

"No, that's okay. I think I might be...."

"Oh, you're not going back? Would you like to help me clean out the cuccos' pen, then?"

"NO."

"Alright then, better go out there and help your brother find the rest of the kids."

"It's getting dark..."

"So?"

"I need to leave sometime today."

"I know, but you still have time to spare."

Shinrin was completely missing the point. Were they planning to keep him there until midnight?

"I noticed you were working hard moving those crates," Link observed.

"I was doing inventory. I left the papers in my house," answered Shinrin without faltering.

"Ten minutes would have really made a dent."

"I have trouble getting back to a chore once I shift my attention."

"Right. Sure."

Jaryd walked in throught the open door. "Hey, are you gonna help me or not?"

"Fine," Link said. Shinrin gave a short wave as the brothers walked outside.

It was twilight before the other villagers allowed Link to so much as suggest beginning his journey again. Link packed a few days worth of food as well as all of his presents, and made to depart the village an hour after sunset.

However, the four children headed him off at the village entrance tunnel for a final good bye.

"So, you're leaving at last, are you?" said Iyumi, being the first to step from the shadows.

"Yes, I suppose I am," Link replied.

"Does it make you nervous?" questioned Maurene, jumping out.

"Not fair, I want to go too!" shouted Mike.

"Oh, you'll go in four years, just wait your turn, Mike," snapped Iyumi at her brother.

"Be glad you get to go at all," said Laura sourly, being the last to step out. Laura was a bit of a tomboy, and a very tough little girl. She had wanted to be a warrior, but because there was nobody to be her master, and Maurene got preference for being a boy, she couldn't. Link believed that she studied and practiced on her own in secret. It wasn't against the rules or traditions to learn from books or observation. And Laura was very smart.

"What do you mean, Laura?" asked Iyumi. "Isn't Link old enough to train you now?"

"Yeah, but I figured.... since you're older..." Laura said, sounding slightly embarrassed.

Iyumi laughed a little. "Oh, I'm not interested. Cooking is good for me. I don't like violence. I admit that beating Mike once in a while would be fun. I'm too old to begin, anyway."  
"Then so am I. I thought you couldn't be any older than six."

"It doesn't really matter with the adult shortage now. Maybe you wouldn't be considered an adult until eighteen, then."

Laura looked at Link, now with a gleam of excitement in her eyes. "Really?"

"Yeah, probably," he answered.

Laura gave a little jump, then straightened up, obviously trying to look more warrior-like.

"So, um, why are you all here?" asked Link.

"We couldn't let you escape without saying bye," said Laura.

"I already have said good bye!"

"Ah, but we wanted to be the last to do so before you left."

"I'm coming back!"

"A week is a long time, nii-chan. Especially for us kids."

"I suppose so..."

"Anyway, we wish you a safe journey. Do come back alive, okay?" said Iyumi, in a kinder, but sadder voice.

"Well, don't jinx me! Actually, I'm more worried about you. How will you do against that cloud?" Link replied.

"Don't worry! I'll protect the village," Mike declared, stepping forward and waving his sword in the air.

Laura walked up to him, stood on her tiptoes, and knocked him on the head.

"If the safety of our village truly depended on you, we'd be in trouble," Laura stated sarcastically. "Don't worry, we've got my dad and Shinrin to protect us... should Mike fail."

"Besides, maybe the forces of evil won't find our village," Iyumi added.

"That would be nice," Laura agreed.

"See you," said Link, ending the conversation, because the sky was getting very dark. He waved towards the four children as we began walking towards the exit.

"Please don't die, Link! You're too cool!" shouter Mike after him. He heard a clunk, which meant that Laura had probably hit him on the head again.

Link walked a few steps, before he heard footsteps coming after him. Suddenly, Laura was standing in front of him, panting.

"Wait, Link. I almost forgot." she pulled out of her pocket a silver chain. On the chain was a jewel, a charm of sorts. The gem was a deep red, somewhat purpleish. The jewel itself was a sphere, pretty much, but the gold decoration around it was what caught his eye. The gold formed a circle around the gem, and there was a needle of gold impaling the gem perpendicular to the circle. At the top was the part from which it was hung.

"This is the Aturea Garnet charm," Laura stated. "It is a symbol of leadership in our village. I think all the villages and tribes in Hyrule have similar stones. Dad forgot to give it to you at present time, so he gave it to me to give it to you, and, well, I forgot until now. Usually there's a ceremony for handing over chiefship, but dad thought that he'd give it to you for your journey, and have the ceremony when you come back.

"It's believed to have magical properties, and he thinks it might protect you or help you in the outside world. With that cloud looming near, and all. So... yeah... take it."  
Link took the gem from Laura. He wondered if she was lying. He had never seen anything of the sort before, and Lumuro had never showed it to him. But Laura was a very honest person. Besides, the garnet was pretty. He tied the chain around the hilt of his sword, letting the charm hang.  
Laura sighed in relief. "So, once again, bye,"

As she took off running home, Link continued through the tunnel that connected Aturea to Hyrule field, and once he got to the exit, he paused for a moment to enjoy the view. It wasn't too terribly different than in Aturea, but it was still outside. Then, he took his first step out of Aturea and into the world beyond.

Conclusion: Chapter 1

Don't worry, I wrote this one a long time ago. Both the writing and the story get better later on.

DISCLAIMER: The Legend of Zelda and its characters belong to Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo. The OCs and the general storyline belong to Kamataki Raitsu. This is a fanfic; it is not to be sold, or reposted under any circumstances.


	3. Chapter I21: Travel to Kakariko

~Chapter 2~

Travel to Kakariko

BRIDGE PATH, HYRULE FIELD  
TUESDAY, JUNE 13, 253 TWILIGHT ERA  
9: 38 PM

It only took Link a couple hours to reach the Bridge of Eldin from his village. The moon wasn't even halfway through the sky. Although he was very athletic, and was not tired, he had never travelled before, and was beginning to get sick of walking. He decided to set up camp on the other side of the bridge, and get back the sleep he had lost the previous morning. Arriving in Kakariko at night would be pointless, as it would only raise suspicion. It would be best to arrive around midmorning or midday when the village would be well awake. Link knew that crossing the Plain of Eldin wouldn't take much longer than it had to reach the bridge.

Crossing the bridge itself would have scared the wits out of most people, but Link managed to not look down. The Bridge of Eldin was well over three hundred years old, had no guard rails or walls on the edges, and the middle supports had been washed away by the Zora River that ran hundreds of meters below, slowly eroding away the chasm that the bridge spanned. It would be instant death to fall off. Luckily, the bridge was still strong, and Link was able to cross it without any problems.

At the other side, he looked out across the vast Plain of Eldin, a section of Hyrule field. To the distant southeast, he could see a row of cliffs, and the north entrance to Kakariko. To the east lay Death Mountain where the Goron Tribe resided. To the southwest, he could barely make out a break in the cliffs and a small bridge which likely led to the Plain of Kakariko without going through the village. To the closer southwest were another bridge and a cave in the cliffs separating Eldin and Lanayru provinces that led to Castle Town East Gate. West of the cliffs hovered the dark cloud that he had seen at the Aturea watch tower, only here, without the Atur Mountains, he had a better view. The moon, not being far enough west to be covered, lit up the sky with a bright glow.

Now, where to camp? Link looked around, but the plain was completely flat, and anything could be seen from a great distance. In the days of twilight, it had been said that Hyrule field had been swarming with monsters, and this plain had been among the worst areas.

It had been over two hundred fifty years since the twilight legend was supposed to have taken place, but that cloud was not a good sign. Though the other side of the bridge had cliffs, the idea of going backwards didn't really appeal to him.

It wasn't like Link was afraid of attack; in fact it was quite the opposite. Sleeping out on the plain just did not sound tempting. When Link did sleep, it was very deeply; he could only be woken by loud sounds right next to him, or the bright sun in the event that he was outdoors.  
Link turned around and began to cross the bridge to the north, but instead, to his left, found a short broken pathway. It must lead up to the bridge's watch platform that he had seen from the plain.

He jumped across to this ladder, climbed it, and without looking around, he strode to a corner hidden from the plain by two short stone walls, pulled out Cecyllia's blanket, and fell asleep.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  
The bright sun awoke him only an hour or so after sunrise (which, in Hyrule, was always about six[1]). He checked his bag, and found nothing gone. He got up, packed the blanket and looked around. Nothing had changed, except that the black cloud had expanded slightly to the north and south since the day before. Taking the shortcut by jumping off the watch platform, he began his journey across the Plain of Eldin.

Hyrule field was the usually flat, plain-like, part of Hyrule that wound around the land providing travel paths. Any area that was in the central area, and not part of a town, was considered part of Hyrule field.

It was divided into several sub-sections. The largest was the Plain of Eldin which Link now looked out on. It stretched over the north part of Eldin province connecting the bridge, the north Kakariko gate, and the East Castle Town Gate. To the south, behind a thin row of cliffs, was the Plain of Kakariko. It covered the southern half of Eldin-Hyrule Field. Its eastern border was the South Kakariko gate and the foothills of Death Mountain. To the Southeast was the Lost Woods, named for the fact that no human had ever gone in and returned. They all got lost, and it was said that they even became creatures of the forest. Only the Kokiri forest children could go in and find their way. It was said to be an ever-changing maze. The small village of Demirsi lay on its outskirts. As a result, Demirsian children were raised in a very superstitious culture.

To the northwest, a small break in the cliffs marking the Lanayru border led to the Castle Plain, the smallest plain, named for the great view of the castle one gets when standing in it. It also led to the South Castle Gate which was considered the town's official entrance.

The southwest border of the Plain of Kakariko was the invisible boundary with Faron province. The only change one might notice was an increase in tree growth, and a small stream running from an unknown source in the Lost Woods to Lake Hylia, or so Link had been told. The Faron Woods were to the south of Hyrule Field and though forested areas covered the entire southern border, the place where the dangerous Lost Woods became the safe Faron Woods was indistinct, so the only known safe entrance point had been shown by a path beginning from the Plain's southern-most point.

The entrance to Edyr Village lay just to the south of the part of the Plain of Faron where it thinned out into a small strip south of the Lanayru cliffs and Lake Hylia. Edyr Village was bigger than Aturea and Demirsi; probably closer to the size of Ordon. It lay in the conifer forested area making up the hills separating desert from woods. However, like Demirsi, it was often overlooked as an important information and trade center because of its long mountain pass of an entrance. To many travelers, even going the long way passed Aturea and across the Bridge of the East was preferable than taking the southern route, and climbing Edyr Pass, even though it was on the way. Link had learned that Edyrans received goods mostly from Ordon by a forest route, and almost never left the village. The Pass was treacherous.

The final opening in the Lanayru cliffs was to the far northwest plain of Faron. Beyond it wound the Lake Path which crossed the Bridge of Hylia, the great bridge of the west, about 20ft above the lake. The bridge's north end was in the River Plain; defined as the area that was north of the lake and west of the Zora River. The single entrance to the Gerudo Desert lay on the west side of the River Plain.

The Zora River took a sharp bend west of Castle Town. The plain southeast of the river, part of Lanayru province was the Plain of Hylia, as it looked out over the lake. The remainder of Hyrule field north of the river bend was the plain of Lanayru. The North and West Castle Town Gates lay on this plain. Snowpeak and the surrounding mountains were in the northwest, and Zora's Domain, the source of the Zora River was in the northern mountains.

The final sub-section was known as Bridge Path. It twisted through the Atur Mountains[2] (which could be more accurately described as foothills of the northern mountains, or Death Mountain.) The west end was the plain of Lanayru, and the east, the bridge of Eldin. Halfway along the path lay the entrance to Aturea Village, which, until now, was the only place in Hyrule that Link had been.

It was a hot June day. Even though it was morning, due to lack of shade, the walk took longer than expected. Veering slightly eastward, he took a short stop at a small pool of water. He sat down next to it and thought about what to do next. After he went to Kakariko, then what? He wanted to explore as much of Hyrule as was possible in the time allotted. But how much could he cover? He hadn't even an idea of how long it would take to get to the places he wanted to. He felt that Castle Town was a must, conflict or none. Demirsi and Death Mountain sounded possible, as neither was far from Kakariko, and he could pass through Demirsi on his way to Castle Town. It might be good to see Lake Hylia, too. Maybe even head south and visit the Faron Woods and Ordon, and if he had time, he could try to enter Zora's Domain up north. That pretty much covered the entire kingdom, Lanayru eastward, for there wasn't much in the Gerudo desert or up Snowpeak.

Link sighed. There was no way he'd be able to cover all that in just a week. Perhaps he'd get sent on a mission to one of these places later on. Perhaps not. The chief often stayed in the village to manage internal affairs. Everybody liked Link, and he could be a very good leader (all the village children practically followed him already), but he would have preferred helping his village on missions, rather than protecting the village from a potentially nonexistent threat.

Looking back up at the sky, he judged by the sun's position that it was only about nine in the morning. And then, he saw a little red balloon floating up by the cliffs of Kakariko.  
Seemed as if Maurene's request would be granted sooner than expected.

Link took out slingshot, and fired a couple of rocks (yes, rocks, not seeds) at the figure. The red balloon popped, and the green clad little man fell heavily to the ground on the opposite side of the pool. Darn, he had misjudged the distance.

Sadly, Tingle seemed uninjured. Even worse, he had noticed Link's presence. He jumped up and tottered over to Link, who stood, petrified.

"Was it you who popped Tingle's balloon?" Tingle asked with excitement. "Does that mean you want to buy a map? From me?"

Link didn't know what to say. He felt bad to admit that he had sniped him for fun, but he didn't really need a new map, especially from Tingle.

Tingle made up his mind for him.

"So, what will you need sir? Tingle's got maps of this province, the kingdom, whatever you..."

"No... no, that's okay. I've already got one...." Link held up the old map from Mikoto and Takita. Tingle snatched it out of his hand.

"An ancient map, this is! At least a hundred years old! So many errors. The world changes fast, you know. Tingle must fix this..." and with that, Tingle pulled out a bunch of map drawing implements from his backpack and "fixed" the map. Link stood staring at Tingle for a few minute before he gave it back.

"See, see!" he said, opening it and shoving it in Link's face. "Castle Town now extends north of the castle. The Hyrule Field plains are much more connected than they used to be. Zora's Domain is further into the northern mountains, and the Gerudo Desert extends far to the south, touching the Faron Woods. There were so many major and minor issues Tingle had to adjust. And he even added a GPS!"

"A _what_?"

"Global Positioning System! See this little yellow triangle in the big plain? That's where you are."

Link turned on the spot to test this. So did the triangle. It seemed to point in the direction he was facing. Yet, the paper was still just paper.

"How did you do that?"

"Tingle Magic!"

Link had absolutely no desire to learn what "Tingle Magic" was, but felt nonetheless grateful for the upgrade.

"Now, that'll be 200 rupees," demanded Tingle, holding out his hand.

"WHAT? I didn't even ask for it!" argued Link.

"But you like it?"

"I could have easily gone without..."

"Oh. How's this? You show me a fairy sometime, and I'll only make you pay 25 now. Tingle loves fairies. He is in fact, the very reincarnation of a fairy. But, he won't sell you anything again until either you show him a fairy or pay off 175. Deal?"

"Deal," agreed Link, thinking that he'd probably never see a fairy, nor buy anything from him anyway.

"Yahoo!" shouted Tingle with joy as Link dumped the rupees into his hands. "Now we can be friends!"

He obviously didn't notice the disagreeable look he got from Link.

Tingle did a dance chanting "Tingle, Tingle, Kooloo, Limpah!" Then he turned to Link and added, "These are Tingle's secret magic words. Don't steal them." No worries there, thought Link.

A giant balloon inflated from Tingle's pack. Or at least, Link hoped it was from his pack. He lifted off into the air.

As he floated away, he shouted, "Goodbye, friend! Don't forget to find me a fairy!"

Link swore to never misjudge the location of a floating object again.

Around 10:30 AM, he at last arrived in Kakariko village. The town was surrounded by high cliffs in a similar fashion to Aturea.

Being at the base of a huge mountain, the village had three levels. The main road curved across the bottom level from the north gate to the south gate. Buildings lined both cliff walls. The east cliff was about ten feet high, and on top of it was the second level. A ramp on the north end led up. Link could make out the third level about five feet above the second, and a watchtower.

Link followed the road south. Empty market stalls lined the western wall of the town. At the end... was that a Malo Mart? To the east of the south gate, just inside the village sat the spring of the Light Spirit, Eldin. North of the spring was a house. This house looked older, yellower, and rounder than the others. Behind it, disappearing into a tunnel lay a path that Link assumed led to the famous Kakariko graveyard.

He stopped in front of the largest building, about halfway down the road. The second floor of the first level became the ground floor on the second level. A sign reading "Kakariko Inn" hung on the rail of the porch. Thinking that he might stay for at least a day or two he decided to check in, even if he didn't sleep.

He entered into a huge room, with a lot of table and a bar. A flight of stairs want to the second floor, and a small balcony, with all the room doors overlooked the bar.

The room was packed. Most of the round tables were full. The majority, if not the entire village must be here!

Link slowly went further into the room looking around. The Kakarikans talked and laughed. If something was wrong in this village, it sure wasn't evident.

Two people at a table near the back caught his eye. He couldn't hear them over the loud chatter, but from their frustrated movements and expressions, it was quite clear they were arguing. Link stealthily edged closer to the fighting pair. One was a girl who didn't look much younger than Link. She had long, black hair, with the front sections of each side tied off by white ribbons. She wore a colorful short sleeved shirt, and a long skirt. The other was a man at least as old as Shinrin. His skin had a slightly dark tint. His hair was long and dark brown. His clothing resembled the pictures Link had seen of Kakariko shamans. But his tone of voice and manner weren't very shaman-like at all.

Link sat down at a table next to the two.

"….. told you not to tell any villagers, Alaiza! And what did you do? You called a bloody town meeting!" exclaimed the shaman, annoyed. He slammed his fist on the table.

"You know what, Rikardo!?" shouted the girl called Alaiza. "You make a crappy village leader!" she sounded like she had been holding that in for a long time.

Shaman Rikardo looked only slightly taken aback. "What makes you say that?"

"That friggin' cloud has been hanging over the castle for over two weeks now, and you refuse to warn anyone. That cloud it NOT natural, and NOT some petty rain storm like you tried to pass it off for at first, especially in a place as far from the ocean as Hyrule. And, there is no way in hell that it's the lake, so don't even try that again.

"There is evil in the west, and it's spreading. Sooner or later, it will reach us here in Kakariko. It is inevitable, unless the hero comes out of nowhere and saves us. We must be prepared.  
"That's why I called this meeting," Alaiza argued.

"I don't want to needlessly worry my friends…" Rikardo began.

"It's hardly _needless_," Alaiza grumbled.

"Just shut up and let me talk! That cloud has been there for two weeks over _Lanayru_ province! Not us, not here. That's where the castle is; an ideal target. We can do nothing to help them over there. These 'forces of evil' will likely never bother to spread into Eldin or they would have already! Once we get a half-dead messenger from Aturea telling us to flee, THEN I'll be worried, but I think you're just paranoid."

"Hmmm… a messenger from Aturea? You mean kinda like that guy over there?" Alaiza nodded her head towards Link, who hadn't realized they knew he was there. He didn't show his surprise, but merely looked over at Alaiza and Rikardo.

"What makes you so sure he's from Aturea? They rarely leave their little village," Rikardo said doubtfully.

"He's got a sword, you idiot. He's not from Kakariko, or else we'd know him. Castle Town merchants don't usually walk around so heavily armed, and soldiers are too cowardly to cross Hyrule field. The royal messengers wear a uniform. Ordonians don't travel much either, and they also dress differently. I could name a million more things, but I think it's pretty obvious that he's a warrior of Aturea, aren't you?" she directed the question at Link.

Link nodded. He didn't like to talk much, especially to those he didn't know well. "My name's Link. I turned sixteen and am on a journey to explore Hyrule. I am from Aturea."

Alaiza crossed her arms and looked smugly at Rikardo who said, "He ain't half - dead."

"So, you're travelling around?" Alaiza asked Link.

Link nodded.

"Do you know a guy called Jaryd? He came here like, two years ago, for the same reason. Except he stayed for only a day or so."

"I know Jaryd. He's my brother."

"Seriously?" Alaiza questioned. "You look nothing alike."

"I'm adopted."

"… Oh, yeah, because of that disease thing. Here, why don't you come sit with us. We've got plenty of room." She patted the seat on her left. Link moved over to the table. It would certainly make it easier to talk.

"So, do you need a place to stay?" she asked once he was comfortably seated. "You can stay here. It's only fifty rupees a night."

"Wait, you charged Jaryd two hund---" Rikardo cut in. Alaiza smacked him over the head and smiled at Link.

"So?"

Link found it slightly amusing that she had charged Jaryd more, but it wasn't really fair. "Don't worry about it. I don't need sleep every night, and I've gotten a lot the past three. If I do though, I can sleep outside."

"That's not a good idea," Rikardo snorted. "We're right next to the kingdom's main graveyard where the Shadow Tribe and the royal family rest. They wander the streets at night sometimes, often invisible. You can't cut ghosts with a sword. Alaiza tried."

Alaiza giggled evilly. "That was fun. But ghosts are relatively harmless if not plain creepy. Though they might take your soul from time to time. We've had Poes and ReDeads hanging around lately, and they _are_ violent. Poes can turn invisible, sneak up on you and hit you good with their lantern. ReDeads… they give a blood- curdling scream that freezes you where you stand, and then…" she shuddered.

Link looked at them questioningly.

"Then they rape you," Rikardo finished nonchalantly.

"No they don't. They steal your life force. But it sure looks like…. ANYWAY, come on. The point is that you need to stay indoors somewhere overnight. We can't get rid of them. We've tried. They've been here ever since Rikardo became shaman, which was just after I was born. They can't be killed. Rikardo can't exorcize them. I hate to say it, but the only way is to avoid them."

Link didn't completely agree, but he figured he might as well stay in the hotel for the next couple nights. If not for his own interests, then for giving some money to Alaiza. "How much is it, really? I'll pay the full price."

"It's really fifty rupees. Jaryd was being a complete ass when he arrived. He wouldn't talk to me, and when he did, it was demanding things. Like he's all high and mighty for being from Aturea or something, I don't know. So, I decided to see if Mr. Almighty Aturea Warrior can pay two hundred rupees a night. Apparently not," Alaiza grumbled.

"We don't use money in Aturea…" Link pointed out. "There aren't many people left, and we usually trade goods."

Rikardo began sniggering. Alaiza's face froze with an unpleasantly startled expression. "Oh. That would explain a lot." Then, she shrugged. "Too bad for him. Guess I bankrupted him. Maybe that's why he got nicer after the first day. So, are you staying? Since you probably don't have any money, then, I'll let you stay for free."

Link shook his head, and pulled out the moneybag from Martica. He pulled out a couple of red rupees (worth twenty apiece), and pushed them over to Alaiza.

Her eyes widened. "Do you really not use money? That's a LOT."

"Martica only found the stash a couple months ago," Link lied. Truthfully, Martica had probably found it years ago, but hadn't been as willing to share back when Jaryd turned sixteen.

"Who's Martica? A person from your village?" Rikardo asked.

Alaiza cut in, "You don't really have to go to all the trouble. My family runs the bar, too. We're not exactly poor."

Link shook his head again. "I don't want to freeload."

"Fine then," she took the two red and one yellow rupee (worth ten) that Link had set out on their table. "MONEY!!!!"

"Are we gonna start this meeting or what, Alaiza? Or did ya just call us here for a social gathering?" asked a tall man who walked over from a neighboring table.

"Just a minute," Alaiza told him. Then, she turned to Rikardo. "You run this. It's your job. You will tell them everything, or I will KILL you the next time I see you. I'm going to find our guest a room." She stood up and beckoned for Link to follow. "Come on. We've got six rooms, and they are all upstairs."

Alaiza took short, but fast steps, proportional to her height, which was somewhat lacking. The wood steps creaked loudly as they ascended. "Yeah, they're a bit old," she commented. "Don't try to sneak around here at night. My father wakes up at the mere sound of shuffling feet, and he will come to check what's going on."

No problem, thought Link. If for whatever reason he needed to sneak out at any point, he could just jump the balcony. It wasn't that much of a fall. Only ten feet or so.

The second floor opened in a round wooden balcony. Three doors lines the wall to the right - opposite the short guard rail to the left looking over the bar where Rikardo was attempting to calm the somewhat drunk villagers down. A dark polished brown square table sat in the middle of the balcony, surrounded by four chairs with flowery pink cushions on the seats. Link and Alaiza crossed the balcony and went into the short hall on the other side. There was a door on each wall.

"Here you go. You have a choice of three rooms. These three are one person rooms. I'd suggest the right one. The left one is partially over the bar, we've got customers here through midnight. Loud customers. The end one is over my family's residence. If you so much as turn in your bed after about ten o clock, you'll have my dad up here with a torch asking what you are doing." she rolled her eyes, "The right one is the best."

"I'll just take the left one."

"Are you sure? That's the one over the bar?"

"Not a problem."

"Okay…." Alaiza looked a combination of worried, and exasperated. "Here's the key," she handed it to him.

The room was very small and simple. The walls were made entirely of wood. The floor was a large white, soft carpet with orange and pink circles on it. A twin size bed with orange and white sheets was shoved into the far left corner. A desk polished much like the table outside sat across from the bed. It was stocked with paper and writing implements. A black lamp bent over from the top level of the desk to the main writing area. Undecorated brown pots that looked really tempting to break lined the left wall. There were no windows.  
As Link slowly looked over the room, Alaiza threw herself into the desk chair.

"Now, tell me about your adventures," she demanded. "I don't really want to go back down there with Rikardo telling drunks about how they are in imminent danger."

Without sitting down, Link answered, "I came directly here from Aturea, so there isn't much to tell."

"Then tell me about Aturea. Come on."

Thinking that it wouldn't hurt to talk to the girl, he began a long description of history, traditions, and everyday life in Aturea, skipping over important village secrets. He ended with his tale of crossing the Plain of Eldin, the most notable thing being his encounter with Tingle. It took well over an hour.

"Tingle…." Alaiza shuddered. "He's been around here a few times, and nobody's forgotten _that_, much as they try. Just wait 'til you meet his appren…. No, I'll let you figure that out for yourself."

"What?"

"NEVER mind. I didn't say anything. Yeah, you guys believe in the legends and stuff, right? Not like a religion, but I mean, you guys all say it really happened, and stuff?"  
Link slowly nodded.

"Sweet. I like to read and study legends and read books in my spare time. They're really interesting. Thing is, I can't quite believe they're for real. Like the legend of the hero. All the written accounts were written years later, and are somewhat glorifying. Not that I mind. If I knew him for real… hee hee hee.... Okay, sorry. What I'm saying is that there's an awful lot of magic involved. There may be magic in Hyrule, but it's not something I've noticed in my everyday life. I don't want to be like the anti- magists in Castle Town, but I dunno. Maybe a smaller event happened and they told it like this."

"What about that cloud? You yourself said it was unnatural."

"So I did. I mean it, too. I've always been looking for traces of magic when I'm bored. Found some, too. Found a lot, actually. All you need to do is look in the graveyard. That's where the royal family used to be buried, before they set up one on the Castle grounds. They buried the important people of Hyrule, the residents of Kakariko, and the Sheikah, the ancient tribe of shadow there as well."

"Sheikah?"

"Yeah, not a whole lot of people have heard of them. They are long gone. I only know because I read some of the headstones in the graveyard, and have heard stories from travelers. Apparently, a long time ago, they served the royal family, but then, like three hundred fifty or so years ago, there was some sort of civil war and they mostly got wiped out. Kakariko was their village. Then, they moved it to what is now Aturea. They're supposed to have some descendants here. But I'm not. My family came from Castle Town a hundred years ago. The supposed twilight was supposed to have killed off most of the Kakarikans of the time. The only one who we know is for sure related to the Kakarikans of that time is Rikardo, and that's because the position of shaman is hereditary.

"Anyway, so yeah, the Sheikah had quite a bit of magic, and the royal family is rumored to as well. Plus, the graveyard is haunted. I wasn't too sure about the existence of magic. Then the ReDeads came! But so far, ghosts and zombies are my only proof, and Warren can easily counter that. I don't know how, but he can, I just know it. Like, maybe the Poes are hallucinations or projections, I don't know." Alaiza shrugged. "Well, it sounds like Rikardo's done. Here, we've got a lot of time to kill. I'll give you a tour of the village."  
And so, without waiting for a reply, Alaiza grabbed Link by the collar and dragged him out the room.


	4. Chapter I22: Travel to Kakariko

~Chapter 2~

Part 2

Most of the village consisted of the houses of various villagers, each of whom Alaiza greeted, introduced Link to, and had a short conversation with before moving on. There were a lot of other buildings, and attractions, however.

The bottom tier was mostly the marketplace. Empty market stalls lined the west wall of the village. Alaiza explained that today was Wednesday, and open market was held on only Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

"It's been uninteresting lately, though," she said as they walked to the Malo Mart on the south side of the marketplace. "We don't have a great deal of resources here in Kakariko. We mostly distribute what the gorons and Demirsians give us, and from what they say, it's been hard to get anything for the past few years."

The spring of the province's light spirit, Eldin, was also on the bottom. Just being near it, Link got the impression it was certainly not a normal spring. The water was very clean, and reflected the sunlight abnormally well. Maybe a light spirit really did live there.

"Jaryd tried to summon it when he was here," Alaiza commented. "Watching from Rikardo's window (who lived on the edge of the spring) it was really funny. He was doing all these weird movements and stuff," she put her arms in a series of strange poses and started chanting gibberish. "Kinda like that. He failed utterly, though. He probably scared it off, if anything."

This didn't surprise Link. Legends had it that a light spirit would only appear for a hero. And Jaryd was desperate for such a title. But, he didn't say anything to Alaiza.

The middle tier, other than several houses, only had Alaiza's inn and a restaurant.

"Great people; cannot cook," Alaiza warned. "At all. But that's just my opinion. Some people love the food."

Finally, they made it to the top. A tall watchtower stood at the northwest edge. A well covered with a nailed down piece of wood sat just to the west of the path winding up the cliff. Across the path lay a wooden shack; a hole in the cliff wall visible just over the roof. A sign in front read "Kakariko Hot Springs." At the northeast corner of the village, the road led out up the mountain.

"That's Death Mountain Trail. We can't go there today, though. It's getting too late. There are guards a ways up that won't let us through the gate," Alaiza explained. "The Gorons are suspicious of nighttime visitors."

Link looked up at the sky. The sun had already set. The tour had taken all day. He didn't feel that it was a waste of time, though. The purpose of the journey had been to get to know other places, right? Nevertheless, he planned to leave no later than tomorrow night. There was still a lot to see, and he had to be back in Aturea by sunset on the 20th. Today was the 14th.

"Come on, Link. We have to get back to the inn before dark. I can show you Death Mountain and the graveyard tomorrow. Like I said earlier, going outside at night can be really bad. Just look out your window tonight and you'll see. And besides, you already paid. If you try to escape, I'll have to tie you to the bed - that sounds really wrong-, but I will."

He figured it wouldn't be in his best interests to point out that his room had no windows.

Link followed Alaiza back to the hotel, this time entering through the door on the middle level. The room they entered into was not one Link had been in before. It was very open. After the wall that Link faced ended, it became a rail for another balcony overlooking the bar, this time from the back. On the far north side was the staircase that led up to the third floor. He had a sudden desire to know what was up there.

Alaiza instead, turned left, grabbed his arm, and pulled him through a bunch of hanging brown beads that did an excellent job of blending in with the wall. Suddenly, they were in the hallway that led to the three rooms Alaiza had shown him earlier. His room was now the first door on the right.

"I guess you could spend the night exploring the building if you really don't want to sleep. I'll have to figure out a way to get my dad really drunk, though. You're probably safe until the bar closes, but after that, try not to make too much noise. We don't have any other guests right now, so all the rooms will be unlocked. The place has a few 'secret' passages like the one I just showed you. Except they are painfully obvious. All in all, it's not the most exciting adventure you'll ever have, but it'll keep you occupied for a while. Anyway, good night. I'm going to bed now." She waved back at Link as she walked downstairs.

Link stared after her for a couple of seconds before entering his own room. He wanted to explore the hotel, anyway, but surely that wouldn't take the entire night. He didn't really want to be hanging around the empty building when Alaiza's family was trying to sleep, either. He really wanted to go outside. He wasn't afraid of any Poes or ReDeads, but he had a feeling that he should listen to Alaiza. Something would surely go wrong if he went out.

Resigned, he fell back on the bed. He wasn't at all tired, but he figured he might as well sleep at least the second half of the night to restore some energy. That meant he had some time to spare. He jumped up and placed his sword and shield on the bed. As Alaiza said, the hotel mightn't be the most interesting place in Hyrule, but it was so big, and he hated to leave any corner uninspected. He might find something good.

The third floor wasn't as interesting as he'd hoped. Up the stairs was a small cramped hallway lit by two torches on the opposite wall and two bedrooms. The two person bedrooms weren't locked, but the insides looked practically the same as Link's room, except that there were double beds instead, and the rooms had blue and red themes instead of orange. Before departing, however, he grabbed a few rupees from the pots lying about the room. Surely nobody would notice… After all, they just left them up there…

On the second floor, Link managed to find another secret passage to the outside beneath the bed in the four person room which lay right next to the stairs. He noted this location. If Alaiza didn't know about the small hole, then tomorrow night he could slip out…

Then, a thought occurred to him. Alaiza had said that it was extremely dangerous to be out after dark in Kakariko. Yet, the residents stayed at the bar until late. Wouldn't they have to be outside to get home?

Wandering into the bar, he got his question almost immediately answered by the same tall man who'd talked to Alaiza earlier, Jo.  
"It depends where ya live. We try to advise outsiders to get inside as soon as possible, because it's generally unpredictable, but every night the creepy spirits make a journey from the graveyard to the well. It's not usually until well after midnight they pass the Inn's upstairs door, but if you live on a lower tier, ya'd better get home before the spirits pass. We don't know what'll happen if they catch you, but we have had strange disappearances by people who stayed up just a little late."

"What about Poes and ReDeads?" Link asked.

"Them? Oh, they never leave the graveyard, thank the gods. But they're there as soon as the sun goes down. And they're real monsters. No mysterious disappearances around them. Just unpleasant deaths. Speakin' of which, I'd better get going. It is getting to be around eleven. I can push it a bit, 'cuz I live on the top, but I'd better not let it go too long. I'm sure Alaiza and her parents don't appreciate freeloaders."

The bar emptied relatively fast after that, so Link continued his exploration. He entered a door behind the counter. Another hallway lay stretching out to either side. There were several doors, but they were all locked, and not long after, Link realized that this had to be the living quarters of Alaiza's family, and quickly made his way out.

There seemed to be nothing left to do at the Inn, and though the thought of seeing creepy spirits was tempting, he decided not to sneak out tonight.

A young woman sat on a soft bed in the corner of a very small, but luxurious appearing room. A white silk curtain draped over three sides of the bed, the side the woman sat on open. A short, round wooden table sat in the center. The carpet was a deep blue that matched the window coverings.

The woman sat in a very composed position, but stared aimlessly at the covered window. Link could not see her face, but he could tell she was sad. Her hair was a shade of golden blonde that was not too far from his. It was long, with a section of it braided in the back. She wore a solid white robe, the hood hanging limply in back.

Someone knocked on the door. Without waiting for the woman's permission, they entered.

First came a little girl. She looked to be about seven or eight. Her hair was translucent white, which looked rather... cool with her somewhat dark skin. She wore a little silver tiara on her head, and a sleeveless gold and red dress that came down no further than her ankles. But in a way, she was creepy. Her smile and bright green eyes did not give off a feeling of happiness or playfulness that most little girls her age would have. It was a kind of cruel taunting, in a childish way. She was not some witch or immortal entity in the form of a child; she was certainly a child. He'd seen the look on Mike, Laura and Maurene often enough. However, it was indeed off putting to see it in such a situation. Why would a little girl be looking at an adult in such a manner?

"Papa's coming!" she announced. "He's got plans for you!"

The woman turned around. Seeing her face, Link realized she couldn't be more than a couple years older than himself. Her eyes were blue, and her face young, pale, and unmarked. She was certainly no peasant. She said nothing.

"Don't ignore me, imposter princess!" the little girl demanded, as she stomped up to the woman.

Imposter princess? What was going on?

"Calm down, Catherine. She's not ignoring you. Nobody would do that," came a man's voice from the doorway. He stepped into the room. He was very tall; probably around two meters. He had dark skin and green eyes that matched Catherine's, but his hair was dark brown. He had this permanent-looking smile on his face that looked as if he'd told the greatest sickest joke ever.

Catherine crossed her arms. "She'd better not, papa. I'm the real princess here."

Her father chuckled. "She's a princess, too. She's just the princess of a different place."

The woman finally spoke, "I suppose I'm technically the queen now. My own father died a couple weeks ago."

"Oh, I'm sorry," the man said, in a failed attempt at sympathy.

"Don't be. He wasn't exactly an asset to my kingdom. I barely knew him, besides, of all people your sympathy is what I want least. Now, may I ask? Where is my attendant? Is it your usual greeting to promptly capture anybody who wishes to speak with the king?"

"Emperor, actually. Calistra is an empire, and I am its ruler. And we do tend to find it suspicious when a foreigner claiming to be the princess of a legendary realm comes in demanding an audience with the emperor."

"First of all, I claimed nothing. It was Dyrin who spoke. Second, I demand to know what my land means to your people. Why is it so strange that I come from it? What's so legendary about it?"

"Its mere existence is said to only be a tale. It's supposed to be a land of magic. It's supposed to be the place where…"

He was interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming down a stone hall.

"Ah! It sounds like the persuader is finally here!"

"Yay! He'll set this lady straight!" exclaimed Catherine.

"Persuader?" asked the outsider queen. She'd been talking in a calmly angry manner up to then, but when she said this, Link noticed a glimmer of fear.

"Yes, _persuading_ people to cooperate is his job. And he does it quite well," The emperor replied. As the queen glanced at the covered window, he added, "There's no point in trying to escape. The window behind that curtain is an illusion. The walls of this cell will never fall, and even if you managed to sneak out, your soul is being held here by the light beams…"

The footsteps were getting louder. The persuader was about to enter the room. Link had only just realized that none of them had noticed his presence. He thought he was standing in the corner connecting the walls with the door and the bed. He stepped out of the corner; each time picking up his legs seemed harder than normal. He wanted to protect the woman. He didn't know who she was, or where they were, but he felt like she was surely on the good side, whatever that was.

It felt like he was trudging through thick mud by the time he reached the center of the room. Yet, Catherine and her father never saw him. They weren't even looking in his direction. Catherine was facing the queen chanting, "Persuader! Persuader!" The emperor was staring out the door patiently. The queen, however, looked right at him. Her eyes widened. The room began to fade to black.

She spoke a single word. "You?"

What about him? The last thing he saw was Catherine stop chanting and point at the queen and say something as her father turned around, a quizzical expression on his face. Then complete darkness fell.

The footsteps of the persuader coming down the hall continued. What was happening? He didn't know, but he figured it wasn't good. The pace quickened, then broke into a run.  
A young female voice cut through the blackness.

"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORNIIIIIIIIIIIIIING, LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINK!!!!!!!!"

He didn't know where he was; only that he was lying on something soft, and that something heavy was flying through the air in his direction.

Reflexively, he drew his sword, which he kept next to his bed, and blocked the oncoming object with the flat of the blade. It fell back onto his legs.

"HOLY CRAP!"

Link sat up. Alaiza was sprawled near the foot of his bed, one knee bent up; her mouth gaping open at the ceiling. She jerked up, and started rubbing her left foot.

"Owwwww, I think I broke something…"

"I'm sorry. Are you okay? Perhaps you shouldn't sneak up on someone sleeping?" Link apologized nervously.

"My back's not doing much better. Do you wear iron boots in bed, or something?" Before waiting for an answer, she pulled off his top sheets. "Nope, apparently not. But damn, are your feet bony! I could have died! If you'd given me the edge of that sword, I'd have had my leg sliced in half vertically, and then fallen to break my spine on your stupid foot!"

"I'm really sorry. It's just that I had this really strange dream…"

"Nah, it's fine," said Alaiza, shaking her head. She seemed to have recovered. "I'm not dead, luckily, so we'll forget it for now. Now, get up. We're climbing Death Mountain this morning!"  
She sounded awfully cheerful for talking about going to a place called "Death Mountain."

Alaiza jumped off the bed. "Hurry up! It's already nine in the morning! We're wasting the day!"

As it turned out, however, there would be no climbing Death Mountain. Just outside Kakariko was a long gate spanning the entire width of Death Mountain Trail. A Kakarikan guard and a Goron stood on either side.

Link had never seen a Goron before. He'd heard of them before from other villagers and books. As he'd thought, they were indeed tall and bulky, and very… rocky. It was like looking at a fat, muscular, practically bald yellow man with his back covered in a huge stone shell, and wearing nothing but a loincloth. He looked kind enough, but stood proud with his arms crossed and an expression on his face that clearly said, "If you want to get past me without my permission, you'll have to fight me first," something Link really didn't care to do. Though, he didn't really want a hug from him, either.

"Our apologies, but Chief Darumachi has ordered not to let anyone pass. The mountain has been erupting more than usual lately. It would be very dangerous to let humans up there."

And that was that. Disappointed, Alaiza dragged Link down to the graveyard, only to meet another obstacle. Gary, the grave keeper was refusing to admit anyone today.  
"I mean, if you're willing to go in there, it's usually no problem. I didn't even used to believe in ghosts, you know. But then, they started coming up at night. And yesterday, they didn't leave when day came, like they usually do. Strange things are happenin' because of that cloud. I also feel responsible for people's lives while they are on my property. I can't just let them in with it in this state."

Link protested that he wanted to see the ghosts, but Alaiza and Gary simultaneously contradicted him. "It ain't a children's book with the little ghosties in white sheets. These are magical, vengeful spirits and dark monsters. They'll get you."

"So it's either back to the Inn or to Rikardo's house," Alaiza stated. "Which do you prefer, Link?"

As an answer, Link pointed to the shaman's house.

Alaiza sighed. "Fine, then. To Rikardo's it is."

Rikardo's house was a single round room as it appeared from the outside. The walls inside were solid off white, the floor seemingly made of light brown stone. Two white stone curving staircases built into either side of the wall led up to a small platform on top with what looked like the shaman's bed. The sun shined in the house's single window which was located over Rikardo's bed. As the bed was on the east side of the house, the window probably made for a better alarm clock than anything else. In the center of the first floor lay a huge, round rug colored all sorts of warms colors in patterns telling stories of rocks, and mountains, and people.

Not especially surprising, the shaman's greeting when the two entered the house was, "Oh, now what? What do you want? Come to torture me some more, Alaiza?"

"No. We're just going to hang out here for a bit, because we have nothing better to do." She threw herself down on the rug.

"And what makes you think that my house has any form of entertainment?" Rikardo asked, annoyed.

Alaiza tugged on the side of Rikardo's oversized pants. "Sit down. Tell us stories." She grabbed Link's wrist and pulled him down. Rikardo snatched his pants out of Alaiza's grasp, and backed up a safe distance from her reach.

"What kind of stories do you expect me to know?" Rikardo challenged as if he didn't know any.

"You're an old shaman. Old shamans are supposed to know lots of stories and legends and stuff."

"I'm not that old," Rikardo protested. "I'm only thirty six."

"That's fine."

"Fine for what, Alaiza? Being old?"

"No, knowing stories."

"There aren't that many legends I know that you don't. You already went through all my books," he pointed at a light wood shelf sitting in the first floor spot beneath the platform his bed was on.

"So what? You don't have anything passed down verbally? Or pointless stories about life?"

"I've got stories about life, but I can't think of anything verbal offhand. But I don't think you'd find those very interesting."

"We should tell Link about that time Jaryd came!"

"Oh, that. I remember that."

Alaiza started grinning. "Yeah, it was pretty memorable."

"What did he do?" Link asked.

"Nothing, he was just an idiot."

"Well, I don't know if that's the best way to put it. Like Alaiza said at the inn yesterday, he came with this attitude. Like he was so great coming from Aturea. Then after having to find two hundred rupees to pay Alaiza, (lucky bastard happened to come across one hundred in the graveyard that we'd never found) he dropped that. Then he just got kind of weird," said Rikardo.

"Weird? How?" asked Link.

"You know how I told you about that bizarre ritual with the spring, right?" Alaiza said.

Link nodded.

"That was the night before he left, which was about the first night he arrived, if you don't count the fact that he arrived at three in the morning the previous day. During that time between coming up with the money and leaving he was very outgoing, almost to the point of being annoying. He was constantly being overly friendly and pestering people if they needed help. I was about this close," she held her pointer thumb really close together, "to smacking him."

"He very quickly went into village records as the most annoying guest that's ever passed through," Rikardo added. "He was the strangest for a time, but that was broken just over a year ago by…"

"Don't even remind me of that," Alaiza interrupted grumpily.

"Why not?"

"Just don't. I've been eternally scarred."

"By what?" Link asked.

"Pray to Farore you never know," Alaiza replied. "It was terrifying."

"No it wasn't, really."

"It shall be no longer brought up. End of story. Wasn't Shinrin not as weird as Jaryd?"

"Shinrin? Oh yeah! I remember him! He stayed here what, twelve years ago?" Rikardo said.

"Thirteen," Link corrected.

"So you know him, too?"

"The village consists of very few people. We all know each other well."

"I see. Then you must know he's more tolerable. He definitely had a large evil side, but for the most part, and especially compared to Jaryd, he was normal. Pretty nice whether or not he was in a good mood. But if he wasn't his kindness probably wasn't what it seemed. He was really good at talking other people into doing what they didn't want to do."

"That sounds like him."

"I told him that time about something… A legend… What was it?"

"Legend?" Alaiza asked. "You finally remembered one. 'Bout time."

"Shut up. I haven't remembered yet… That was it… one of them at least."

"What?"

"It was about the Light Spirits."

"Oh, I already know that one. I gotta go use the bathroom. You can tell it while I'm gone." She stood up and walked through a door under the left staircase hidden in the wall.

Once she was safely out of sight, Rikardo said, "I ought to tell you this while she's not around. Just so you know, the normal price of the Kakariko Inn is one hundred, not fifty rupees. And don't bother trying to force another hundred upon her, because she won't accept it."

Link almost objected, but then decided against it. Rikardo had a point. If Alaiza was only going to charge him fifty a night, so be it. It wouldn't hurt anyone, and he'd save money. What the heck.

"Okay, so the Legend of the Light Spirits. Now I don't have an especially good memory, so this'll likely be short. I don't really know much about them that don't involve the events that supposedly took place marking the beginning of the current era.

"A long, long time ago, long before even the Time Era, and the civil war, which essentially marks the beginning of the numbering of the years by modern reckoning, back before any form of recorded history in what we call the Legendary Era, possibly as far back as the controversial Beginning Era… well, maybe not that far, but a long time ago there were people that practiced dark magic. They created the fused shadows, which were very powerful dark magical artifacts. The gods did not want them about, so they imprisoned the dark ones in the Twilight Realm and left the fused shadows to the three northern light spirits to hide. They hid them deep in their lands. That's the first I've ever heard of the doings of the light spirits.

"I know they had something to do with the Legend of Twilight, which, like I said, by common opinion marks the beginning of this era. I 'm not sure what exactly it was. I think it was that eternal twilight could only fall on a province if the light spirit that governed it had its light stolen.

"There are four that we know of; part of the modern kingdom. Ordona to the south, Faron of the forest, Eldin of the mountains, and Lanayru of the west. Their springs have been popular tourist destinations for centuries, but nobody other than the Hero's been able to see them. It's said that only the brave can. Probably only the chosen. Though, I've heard versions that other swordsmen have been able to see them, too. I don't know. They're just picky about who they show themselves to."

Alaiza came back out of the bathroom. "Did you already finish?"

Link nodded.

"Darn, I missed it. But that was really short. Did you forget most of it?"

Rikardo groaned, "I don't care about remembering details, just the big picture. And besides, I thought you said you didn't want to hear it!"

Alaiza waved him off. Apparently, she'd changed her mind. "So, what's next?"

"What do you _mean_, what's next? I already told you that there's nothing to tell you!" Rikardo protested.

"You managed to come up with that."

"Only because I… I only thought of it because you reminded me of Shinrin! Otherwise I wouldn't have thought of it!"

"Alright, fine. Link, do you have anything to tell? Maybe you could tell him about Aturea…"

"I couldn't care less."

"You're a shaman! Shouldn't you know everything?"

"What makes you think that!?"

"I dunno," she shrugged. "So, does Link have anything to say, then?"

What did she mean by "say?" Was she asking if he had any legends to share?

"Oh, I know," she answered herself before Link could. "This morning you almost killed me when you woke up…"

_You mean, when you tried to attack me,_ he thought.

"…you said you'd had a weird dream..."

"Like that doesn't happen often," Rikardo rudely interjected.

Alaiza ignored him, "...What happened? Was someone trying to kill you or something?"

"Not exactly," Link replied. He told Rikardo and Alaiza what he remembered about the dream, which was surprisingly most of it.

"How can you remember it in such detail?" Rikardo asked doubtfully.

"It's probably some secret Aturea skill," Alaiza said.

"No, I don't think so," Link disagreed. "It was just clearer than normal dreams… I think it might be real…"

"Real? How could you have dreams that are real? What are you?" Alaiza asked.

"I do sometimes, too," Rikardo grudgingly admitted. "But they're never anything useful. Just a bunch of idiots picking grass on Hyrule field. I wonder if it's their life mission or something…"

"Don't make fun of Link," Alaiza demanded.

"I'm not! I'm serious! It was mostly before you were born, and I thought that I had some sort of brain disease. Then, one day, the weirdoes just came right through Kakariko, barely saying hi to anybody, completely focused on the different species of grass and flowers. Ask Gary or Jo or somebody, I'm sure they remember it! What I'm trying to say is that dreams of real things aren't impossible, and in the unlikely event that yours really happened, it doesn't make you inhuman or anything. It probably just means that for whatever reason the gods like you more than me."

"'For whatever reason,'" Alaiza snorted. "Hmm, I wonder why that might be. Perhaps because you're the most incompetent, sarcastic, and self-centered shaman in the history of Kakariko Village."

Rikardo ignored this comment. "Obviously, stuff like that doesn't happen much, unless the person is of high importance, like the royal family, or sometimes village leaders like me. But if the scene is somehow involved in someone's fate, or is important to them, they may have a dream about it."

"This doesn't sound like anything he'll be doing in the near future," Alaiza observed.

"You never know," Rikardo replied.

"Do you have any ideas as to what it might be?" Link asked.

"No," Alaiza said flatly.

"Not really," agreed Rikardo. "However, I can guess, I suppose. Your description of the blonde woman sounds kind of like the princess. And you said she was a queen."

"Princess Zelda?!" Link exclaimed.

"No, duh. Whenever I say 'the princess,' I generally mean the princess of Hyrule. Yes, Zelda! I met her once, a couple years ago. But she's technically the queen now. Her mother died long ago. Her father died a week or two back… But it wouldn't surprise me if she's been captured. Bad things are happening at the castle. The dark cloud is over there. And I remember getting a royal messenger about a week ago asking about the weather."

"What has that got to do with me?"

"Looks like your fate somehow involves her, then," muttered Alaiza grumpily.

"Not necessarily," Rikardo reassured her. It looked more like he was trying to calm her down than tell her what he really thought. "It's probably not even real."

"Meh."

"I don't understand what she said at the end," Link said. "How could she have seen me if I was just observing? And what did she mean by, 'you?'"

The recap of the final event put Alaiza in super- sulk mode. And she wasn't even one to sulk much. "Probably mistook you for someone else."

"Beats me," Rikardo sighed. "Time travel?"

"I see. So he saw the future or something, and he and the princess had met in the past which is still our future?" Alaiza suggested.

"Or he came from the future back to the past, and met her by the present." Rikardo added.

"Except there's one problem," Link pointed out. "I can't time travel."

"Yet. Wouldn't you have to obtain it in the future so that you can go back from the future?"

"Oh, I know!" Alaiza shouted. "He was born in the past. His parents are really time travelling aliens from the future. They went to the past, got him while he was a baby from his real parents, and brought him back to Aturea in this time to raise him. On the way, they met the princess. Except they brought a strange disease from their planet, which caused the Aturea Plague. They had to leave before spreading it all over the world, but they couldn't take Link with them, so they left him behind! See! It's flawless!"

"I can believe in heroes and evil magic wielding desert men, and nasty monsters, but I think aliens from the future is pushing it a bit, Alaiza. Besides, that was really off- topic and random. I thought we were trying to explain how he could have met Zelda." Rikardo said.

Link found the idea very interesting, but there was no denying that it was very far-fetched.

"Here's the main problem," Rikardo stated. "With the dream, that is. There is no empire called Calistra. Not nearby, anyway. I think you must have seen the near future. Maybe Calistra is what will result from this cloud."

"No, that can't be it," Link replied. "They said that her land was legendary to them. This has to be in the distant future, when Hyrule is nothing but a tale."

"Zelda looks like an older teen, right? That's about the age she should be by now, according to Rikardo. She could have time-travelled to get away from that cloud, or something." Alaiza said.

"Maybe," Rikardo agreed. "I don't really care. Anyway, what color were the girl's eyes? Were they red?"

"No, they were green. I remember that much," Link answered. "But I don't remember as well how the man looked."

"I wonder what race they are, then. I would say she might be related to the Sheikah, 'cuz they have dark skin and light hair, but they and their descendants almost always had red or brown eyes. I don't think it's possible for them to have such bright eyes…"

"They're probably invading foreigners, or maybe a mix of several tribes," Alaiza said. "They're Calistrans, whatever that means. They're part of some new kingdom or _empire_, or whatever they call it, from the future or a faraway place, or something. Who knows what all they are."

"Again, I don't really care," Rikardo repeated. "Someday, you'll probably have to save the princess or something. Hooray!"

"Shut up, Rikardo," Alaiza grumbled. "If you don't care, then why do you keep asking about it?"

"It's just minimum curiosity, Alaiza. Whenever I think of something, I ask it."

"I still don't understand your logic, but okay."

"Fine, I won't ask any more questions. You can stay here for a late lunch, and then you can leave."

"You're always so kind, Mr. Shaman."

"Your opinion is not wanted here. I'm the leader here, you do as I say."

And that was that. Alaiza, though it was evident she wanted to, did not argue with Rikardo. She quietly ate her lunch, and when departing, dragged Link out with her.

Having nothing better to do, they went back to the Inn, where Alaiza pulled out some board games, and promptly won them all. Her justification was that she'd played them all a million times before, whereas it'd take Link a bit to get adjusted to the rules.

Link made up his mind that he would leave tomorrow morning. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy the company of Alaiza and the Kakarikans. It was just that if they were reduced to playing board games, there wasn't really much point in staying when there was so much to see in the outside world.

When Link told her of his decision, Alaiza shrugged. "That's fine. But you'll come back someday, right?"

"I don't know, but I hope so. Only if I get a mission here."

"How come you guys never leave Aturea unless on mission?"

"I don't know. Tradition?"

"That sucks. Not that I should talk. I've hardly ever left Kakariko. My parents took me to Demirsi once when I was little, and I climb Death Mountain sometimes, and that's about it."

"I've never left Aturea at all until two days ago."

"That's true," she yawned. "Ugh, I'm tired. It's getting late. I think I'll just go to bed now. Can you clean all that up?" She stood up, and pointed to the pile of pieces and cards from various games that she'd piled on the next table.

_Can't you_, Link thought, but he didn't object. He might as well. If Alaiza had any plans to see him off tomorrow, she'd have to go to sleep early. He was planning to leave at first light. Plus, he planned to sneak out tonight using the hole he'd found in the second floor room. He felt somewhat guilty for going against her and all the other villagers' strong advice.


	5. chapter I23: Travel to Kakariko

~Chapter 2~

Part 3

Once the bar was mostly cleared out, Link made for his room as if he was going to bed, in case anybody was watching him. Before entering the empty room, he checked if the coast was clear, but then abruptly changed his mind. Instead, he went into his own room and grabbed his sword and shield, putting them over his back in the style of Hyrulean swordsmen at the beginning of the era. THEN, he went back to the vacant room.

He half expected Alaiza to be waiting around a corner or under the bed, ready to jump him and lock him back in his room, but he found no one. He crawled under the bed and looked a little ways out the hole. A thought occurred to him. How come Alaiza's family had never found and fixed the hole? It seemed a bit obvious, considering that they came in and cleaned the room daily. In reality, was this all a prank? Was the entire village gathered outside, waiting for Link to think he snuck out, and then yell, "Gotcha, you gullible sucker! And you actually thought there were ghosts here?! Ha!"

If something like that had happened to Jaryd or Shinrin, they'd never tell him. They'd want him to find out for himself and be tricked just like they had.

It turned out, however, that Link had nothing to worry about on that count. He crawled a bit further out of the hole, and looked up, down, left and right. No villagers. Nothing really. Being on the front half of the hotel, the room he was in was on the second floor of the bottom tier. It was only three meters to fall. Jumping from such a height was nothing to an Aturean.  
He didn't see any procession of ghosts journeying to Death Mountain, either, though. Perhaps it was simply an old village superstition.

He jumped the three meters down to the ground, and landed lightly on his feet. There was no light at all in the village except that coming from the Inn's bottom floor, and Link knew it would be turned out at midnight; less than an hour away. He hadn't noticed during the day, but Kakariko had no basic street lanterns. Even Aturea had tall poles set at even intervals throughout the streets with lanterns at the top that would burn for exactly twelve hours after lighting. But if Kakariko had any, they weren't lit. Maybe the villagers were in such a hurry to get home, they didn't take the time to light them. Had they, perhaps they wouldn't have a ghost problem...

He took another look around the small gap between the Inn and Rikardo's house. Still nothing. He slowly ventured out to the main street. He looked left. Then he looked right. His insides froze. A dull, but eerie blue glow lit up the street from a couple meters south of the door of the Kakariko Inn to just before the splitting of the street into a small path to the North Kakariko Gate and the ramp up to the second level.

It radiated from a long line of people. They were walking- very, very slowly- but they were walking, apparently making their way up to the top of the village. They seemed to be singing a song; a slow, low, mournful tune. Were these the spirits that Jo mentioned? Link couldn't make out every single one, for there were too many. There were humans, as well as Gorons, and fish people, who he thought must be Zoras. Leading the line was a man- probably a king, for he was dressed like one. He held his head high, and his hands reached up into the air, as if he wanted something from above to fall into them.

So maybe Jo hadn't been lying after all. But why hadn't Alaiza and Rikardo said anything about this?

He slowly edged over to the back of the ghost line. He'd get a better look from there. As soon as he got within a few meters of the blue glow, he began to feel energy leaving him. The low song changed to a chant of, "Come, join us." Link felt himself being drawn into the crowd, slowly losing his will to stay awake, or for that matter alive.

A corner of his mind nagged him not to give in. It reminded him of what Jo had said about people disappearing around the wandering ghosts. But fighting it took so much effort.  
NO. Snapping out of the trance, he realized that he was so close to the crowd, the spirits were almost touching him. And some were even reaching out to grab him. He stood only millimeters from the blue translucent hand of an old bald man. He whipped his sword out, and began swinging wildly at the spirits, knowing full well it wouldn't damage them. Perhaps it'd give him some time to escape. The spirits flinched at the blade, and retreated a few feet. It was enough. Link back flipped away from the nearest ghosts, and rapidly backed away down the road, making sure there was a good distance between him and the line before turning around and walking to the wall of Rikardo's house. He sidled around the cylindrical house, and glimpsed in the northern first floor window. As was to be expected, it was pitch dark inside. Rikardo had been in bed for a long time.

His eyes wandered to the hole in the side of the Kakariko Inn. It was barely big enough for someone to fit through, yet it showed up like a black spot on the side of the white-brown wall. There was no way neither Alaiza's family nor Rikardo, nor hadn't any of the villagers noticed this. If Alaiza was so worried about him sneaking out at night, why hadn't she fixed it?  
Link almost thought of returning to the Inn, and hanging out in his room for the rest of the night. Was the ghost event too much adventure for one night? Nah. That was nothing. If that was all the wide world had to offer, it was no fun. He decided to go into the graveyard and explore. He'd fight monsters. The graveyard was also the origin of the spirits' journey every night according to Jo. There was sure to be something more interesting there.

He scooted around to the south side of the house, being sure to stay close to the wall. He passed the Eldin spring on his right on the way toward the tunnel, and it somehow reassured him. He didn't know why, but the spring made him feel safe.

Just as he broke away from the house, and began approaching the graveyard entrance, he heard a voice that seemed to echo from everywhere, speaking but one word.

"Wait."

Link turned back to the spring, not sure whether he had really heard anything. He noticed nothing different, and continued to the graveyard.

Then, he heard it again, "Come back to the spring."

Curious, Link followed the order the voice had given him, and returned to the spirit spring. Could it be…?

At first, nothing happened, but then, he saw movement. A small, but bright ball of light, rose slowly from the center of the water. Once well above Link's head, a creature made entirely of light materialized above the ball. All that he could tell of it was that is had a large wingspan.

It had to be the light spirit. But it hadn't appeared in over two hundred fifty years! Why now? And why show itself to him, of all people? Sure, he was the strongest swordsman in Aturea, but so had been many others at some point.

Seeming not to have noticed how startled Link was by its appearance, Eldin began speaking in a slow, but deliberate tone.

"I wondered when you might come, but I fear you have come to see me a night too late, Link of Aturea…"

When he might come? Was he being expected? Late?

"A night too late? What do you mean?" he asked.

"The dark cloud that has for so long lingered in the west," the light spirit continued, "has at last begun spreading into my lands covering it in darkness, bringing with it many foul monsters. You could not see it yesterday over the cliffs of Kakariko when it crossed the border."

Comprehension dawned. If the cloud had crossed the border yesterday then one of the first places hit would have been… "Wait, does that mean…?"

"Yes, last night, Aturea was taken. Every resident without exception was taken hostage. Even the children. It is the work of the evil sorceress Tiera. Her evil spreads steadily toward this village, the last free part of Hyrule, and when Kakariko is taken, the kingdom will be, too.

"So, what are you going to do about it?"

There was hardly any decision to make. He would go back to Aturea now, and release the hostages. Eldin seemed to guess this.

"You intend to free your village from the forces of evil, do you not? But what about the rest of the kingdom? Once you save the residents of Aturea, do you plan to just work on protecting Aturea, or do you plan on helping everyone else as well?"

Link considered this. Of course, his first thoughts were out of the shock that Aturea, his village, and the village of the strongest warriors in the land had been overthrown. He wanted to help his friends out most, but he couldn't just leave the rest of the kingdom to evil. Yet again, the light spirit was able to tell his thought process.

"Just as I suspected. You didn't seem the type to let people suffer, even though you don't know them. So, what are you going to do?"

Link was silent for a moment. "I'm going back to Aturea now, to free my friends. From there, I'll just let things take their course. Will getting there faster give me a greater chance of success?"

"Perhaps."

"Then I'm leaving now, if you have no objections. It is my duty as a warrior of Aturea to help out my friends and the people of Hyrule at any cost."

"Before you depart, I have a single request."

"What?"

"There was a flash of light at Link's feet, and he looked down. At his feet lay a dusty green set of clothes including a tunic and floppy cone shaped hat, as well as long white pants, a long sleeved shirt, brown boots, and gloves. Not exactly his everyday choice of attire.

"You should wear these. I won't elaborate on as to why, for now, since you are in a hurry."

Link looked from the light spirit to the strange clothes. Changing would take time, but it was the request of a light spirit. It wouldn't hurt. He picked up the bundle and began slowly backing away.

"Good luck, brave warrior of Aturea. I have a final warning. Not all the spirits wandering the village are in the king's procession. Some wander about invisible keeping distance from the blue glow. Though they cannot hurt you, they can haunt you, and some may even be spies for the forces of darkness. Now if you must depart, so must I," said Eldin, before departing in a blast of light particles.

Link stood there wondering about the light spirit's final words for a couple minutes. Why the clothes? He wanted to ask it about the weird blue line of ghosts. What was the deal with the king there?

Then, he suddenly snapped back into reality. He had to go! Link ran over to the Inn, threw open the bottom door, and sprinted up the stairs once inside. Once in his room, he chucked all his stuff into his bag, and quickly threw on the old tunic from the light spirit over his clothes. As soon as his sword and shield were securely strapped back onto his back, he ran out of the room, key in hand. He'd leave it on the table closest the door to Alaiza's living quarters.

As it turned out, he didn't need to. Alaiza was standing at the bottom of the staircase, blocking his path.

"When I heard the chanting outside, I woke up, and got immediately worried. I couldn't see the procession from my window, but I could only guess it was you," Alaiza said, sounding distinctly annoyed. "I was WORRIED, you bastard!"

"I'm sorry," Link hastily apologized, thinking of nothing better.

"I thought of the hole on the second floor, which I'd forgotten about up until then, and regretting not pestering my parents sooner to board it up. I didn't think you'd actually jump off the second floor, but… Now, where are you going? And what's with that get- up?"

So she did know about the hole...

"No time to explain, really. Saw the light spirit, told me Aturea's been overrun. I really need to get going to help them!"

"The LIGHT SPIRIT!?! WTF, dude?! You saw the freaking light spirit?! You must be someone special, huh?!"

"Not really…"

"Sure. Anyway, why didn't you tell me before? Go on!"

"One thing. Why didn't you tell me about the ghosts?"

"I thought I did. Hm. I mostly focused on the evil things, to hopefully scare you off, but apparently you're not that easily scared."

Link couldn't really object to that.

"Well, go!" Alaiza prompted. "Go save all your friends!" she removed herself from his path. He gave the room key to her as he passed, and then he waved. He didn't look back to see if she returned the farewell.

After jogging for about half an hour non-stop across the plain of Eldin. Link was beginning to get tired. Looking to the northwest, he noted that the light spirit had not been lying. A black cloud covered all the way to the bridge of Eldin on the Lanayru side. That, without a doubt, included Aturea.

While looking up, Link succeeded in crashing into something solid. Now what?

After picking himself up off the ground, he found himself facing a horse. And that wasn't the only horse. It was followed by a whole herd. Only the leading horse had a rider The rider looked about twelve years old. He had really long, messy, yellow hair that stuck up. He wore a dark green patched up shirt with sleeves at least as long as he was tall. His pants were also dark green, were longer than his legs, and ended in a sort of flair bottom. He had a sword over his right shoulder, in the same style as Link, and a huge pitchfork over his left. The pitchfork curved over forward so that the points hung directly over the boy's head. Link hated to think what would happen if the boy suddenly jumped. His eyes were bright magenta, and filled with worry. Over his horse, naturally, as he hadn't seemed to notice Link's existence.

He bent over his horse and muttered in a strange high pitched annoying voice, "Ya okay, Ingle? Then move it!" Then, he finally noticed Link, and instead of asking if he was alright having just crashed into a moving horse, he said, "That is one sweeeeeet hat ya got there, Mr. Fairy!"

"Mr. Fairy?" Where had that come from? In what way was Link fairy-like? No time to ask, though. He attempted to push past the horse, which was apparently named "Ingle," but the boy let out ear-splitting scream of displeasure.

"NOOOOOO…. Don't go, Mr. Fairy! Moe needs your help!"

He needed help, all right. Sighing, and looking back at Moe, Link replied," What do you want? I'm in a hurry!"

Moe didn't seem to understand the situation. He was too absorbed in his own problem.

"Well, ya see, dere's a'weird tings a'happenin' in the south!"

"What?"

"'Dis BIG EVIL cloud came, and with it came lot's o' rain and meanie monsters! Moe didn't like this cloud, but no matter how many times he told it to go away, it just wouldn't listen! So, Moe stood on a BIG tree, and tried to slice up the cloud, but the cloud was TOO high, and Moe just fell out of the tree. So, Moe cut down the damn tree, instead."

"So… in what way exactly do you need my help?"

"Well, you're Mr. Fairy, so cantcha get rid of that cloud?"

"Fine, I'll help you, but in order to do that, you'll have to let me get to Aturea Village, first."

"Okey dokey!" Moe shouted cheerfully. "But does want a horse?" It'll help him get to Aturea faster, prob'ly."

Moe didn't question why he needed to get to Aturea. Even better, he offered up a horse. That would be useful in regaining wasted time.

"It's gonna cost Mr. Fairy, though," Moe continued, giving Link a greedy look.

"How much?" asked Link, pulling out his wallet.

"Whatcha got?" grinned Moe.

Link grabbed a handful of rupees out of the bag. He opened his hand and showed to Moe.

Moe got off Ingle to closer inspect Link's handful. His eyes widened.

"Is that… Could it be…?" Moe whispered excitedly. He dug through the pile in Link's hand and pulled out a couple of green rupees. "GREEN RUPEES!!!! YAHOO!!!" shouted Moe, jumping with joy. "I've always wanted a green rupee! Dey're worth a million rupees! I'll happily give you a horse for these! Heck, I'll give ya all of 'em!"

"No thanks. One's fine"

Green was worth one. Everybody in Hyrule knew that, even the children of people who couldn't afford bread. At least, that's what Link had thought. In a normal situation, he would have corrected Moe, but taking advantage of his stupidity in a time like this would only serve for better.

"Ha! You're such an _idiot_! Fine, I'll give you _one horse_ for _two million rupees_!" He pocketed the money, and pulled out a small flute. With the flute, he blew a short tune- one that made one think of ranches, plains, and fields of grass. A certain horse trotted up beside Ingle.

"'Dis is Epona. At least, that's the name I saw on her saddle. Since you're Mr. Fairy, you should have her. But if you want a different one, just tell me. 'Cept Ingle. You can't have Ingle. Ingle's MINE!"

"I'll just take Epona…" said Link. He really wanted to be going. "Where did you _get_ all of these horses, anyway?"

"I stole 'em!" Moe declared proudly. "'Dat Warren bugger stole 'em from the castle when Princess Zelda fled, and I 'tink Warren's such a loser, I stole 'em from him. Poor horsies; Warren was being mean to them. But ya see, me and Ingle were meant for each other. I knew it the moment I saw him. All the other horsies had names on 'deir saddles except for him. And fate told me just what to name him. I named him after m'master! Cuz ya see, Ingle is spelled by takin' the T off Tingle!"

Tingle's apprentice? Well, that sure explained a lot.

Link mounted Epona, and seeing this, Moe decided to do the same. He had a bit of a difficult time pulling his short legs up to Ingle's back, but somehow, he managed.

"Oh, and Mr. Fairy, before you go, if ya meet either of m'friends, Mike Kuragami or Mikey Silverem, tell 'em I said, 'hi.' 'Cept, you have a friend called Mike, dontcha? I 'tink that Mike goes by 'Kuragami' around here. He works in the Castle, I 'tink. Mikey goes by his middle name, Edward. His base is in the Goron Mines or something. But I 'tink that…"

"Uhhh, can I go now?" Link asked Moe. It sounded as though the kid was about to go on a rant, and Link didn't have time to hear it out. Fortunately, Moe understood.

"Oh, okay. See ya 'round, Mr. Fairy!" Moe began riding off south with a shout of, "To Kakariko, Ingle-sama!"

Wanting to waste no more time, Link rode off north towards Aturea, and the cloud of darkness.

[1] There doesn't seem to be much in the way of seasons, hmm? Yet although the length of days doesn't change, the weather does… In my version, anyway.

[2] There are many cliffs and mountains in my Hyrule. Cliffs separate the northern provinces. Most of Peak province is Snowpeak and its lower mountains and foothills. Northern Eldin is covered in Death Mountain's foothills including the Atur mountain range, which is really more cliffs. The Edyr Mountains lie further south, and are low, but heavily forested. There are also lots of hills and low mountains south of Ordon and at the north border of Lanayru, but they are more forested to the south, and bare to the north.

End: Chapter 2


End file.
